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Opinion | From Lay Zhang to Liu Wen – amid Hong Kong protests, China’s stars are being pushed to the front lines
- As a summer of unrest grips Hong Kong, Chinese celebrities are scrambling to assure fans of their support for one China, writes Adam Wright
- K-pop star Lay Zhang has made headlines for cancelling his Hong Kong show, threatening Calvin Klein and cutting ties with Samsung over the issue
Reading Time:3 minutes
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Chinese-born K-pop star Lay Zhang Yixing and his team have had a busy few days. So busy that the Exo member is now at risk of developing repetitive strain injury from his determined waving of the red and yellow flag.
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As Hong Kong is roiled by ever-increasing unrest, Chinese celebrities are nailing their colours to the mast, revealing a uniform sea of scarlet red. But Zhang has gone above and beyond other Chinese stars who are scrambling to safeguard the integrity of the motherland.
The 27-year-old yesterday cancelled his contract as a smiling product holder for Samsung Electronics after the South Korean giant became the latest international company to be accused of damaging China’s “territorial integrity”.
Its crime? On its international website, Samsung offers separate language options for users in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. The three appeared as choices in a list of countries or regions.
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This came after Zhang gave an audacious warning to Calvin Klein – another company he represents – that he would cease draping its undergarments over his chiselled frame if it did not correct its “careless mistake”. And what was that mistake? Hong Kong and Taiwan are listed as “different regions”, separate from China, on its English-language website.
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